Mumbai, June 5: The sensex climbed to a new three-month high today, closing at 3262.20 in a gain of 45.71 points.

The surge was fuelled by brisk buying in technology shares and heavy-weights like Reliance and Lever. Technology stocks took the cue from the overnight leap on Nasdaq, while investors in the old-economy shares were awash in hopes of a good monsoon.

At the heart of Reliance’s gain was the expectation that the company will raise estimates of its gas find when it faces investors at the June 16 annual general meeting.

The 30-share sensex opened on a strong note at 3233.05 and hit an intra-day high at 3274.45 before finishing at 3262.20 against Wednesday’s close of 3216.49, an increase of 1.42 per cent. The index has rallied 11.5 per cent from the half-yearly low plumbed in April.

Brokers talked passionately about the way foreign institutional investors (FIIs) returned to the trading ring — having sloshed Rs 713 crore between May 26 and June 3. Among the old-economy stocks that sizzled was Telco, the auto major that charmed its way to a profit.

Infosys jumped 3 per cent to Rs 2,857.35 after its American Depository Receipt had a great session on Wednesday. Satyam witnessed good buying to close at Rs 178.80. Reliance rose 3.5 per cent to Rs 311.60, while Lever put on 2 per cent or Rs 3.10 to end the day at Rs 160.40.